CANON LAW

Anointing of the Sick

The How and Why

W
e have been richly gifted by health care ministry in the church from the earliest
times. The power to heal in the New Testament was given within a missionary con-
text, not for the exaltation of the Twelve or the Seventy-Two, but to confirm their mis-
sion.1 What is understood today as the sacrament of anointing of the sick is rooted in James
5:13-15:
Is anyone among you suffer-
ing? He should pray. Is anyone
in good spirits? He should sing
praise. Is anyone among you sick?
He should summon the presbyters
of the church, and they should
pray over him and anoint [him]
with oil in the name of the Lord,
and the prayer of faith will save
SR. MARLENE the sick person, and the Lord will
WEISENBECK raise him up. If he has committed
any sins, he will be forgiven.
The Catholic community is
committed to a sacramental view of the world
wherein clergy, religious and lay ecclesial min-
isters all minister to the sick and infirm, as well
as their family and friends who accompany them
in the journey of suffering. The current liturgical
rite for the Anointing of the Sick states that human
illness is part of the mystery of salvation. We seek
good health to enable us to fulfill our role in society
and in the church. At the same time, those who are
ill and infirm remind us of essential things and the
necessity of the redemption of our lives through the
mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection.2
THE CANONICAL RITES OF HEALING
Sacrosanctum concilium 59 and Canon 840 of the
1983 Code of Canon Law note that sacraments are
ordered for the sanctification of all people and to
build up the Body of Christ in order that they may
render worship to God. On Nov. 30, 1972, Pope
Paul VI issued an apostolic constitution that re-
vised the formula and approved the rites to be ob-
served for anointing and pastoral care of the sick.
The English translation of the liturgical ritual was
published in 1983 and is known as Pastoral Care of
the Sick: Rites of Anointing and Viaticum. It also in-
cludes sections pertaining to the care of the sick,
pastoral care of the dying and readings, responses
and verses from Scripture.
Other sacred rituals are also available in the
Roman Missal containing a Mass for the Infirm in
which, in addition to spiritual graces, the health of
the sick is requested. The Roman ritual contains
blessings for the infirm and blessings for adults
and children. Canons 998 -1007 prescribe the con-
ditions for the proper celebration of the Anoint-
ing of the Sick.3
NATURE AND EFFECTS OF THE SACRAMENT
Ritual prayer and action by their very nature in-
volve an encounter with God’s presence in faith
and culture, according to Pastoral Care of the Sick.
The sacramental action of anointing with oil and
prayer over an individual is an efficacious action
for a sick person. Prayer of intercession or petition
accompanies this ritual action. The Catechism of
the Catholic Church outlines the effects of the sac-
rament: The sick person is united to the passion
of Christ for one’s own good and that of the whole
church. Strengthening, peace, healing grace and
courage are given to endure the sufferings of anxi-
ety, illness or old age. Sins are forgiven if the sick
person was not able to obtain this through the Sac-
rament of Reconciliation. Health may be restored
or one is prepared for passing into eternal life.4
There are three aspects of celebrating the
Anointing of the Sick. First, the prayer of faith by
which the community asks for God’s help for the
sick; second, the laying on of hands indicating the
person is the recipient of the prayer of faith; and
third, the anointing with oil on the forehead and
hands signifying healing, strengthening and the
presence of God. A generous amount of oil is to
be used so that it can be seen and felt. Any part
of the body (the place of pain or injury) may be
anointed during the prayer. In case of necessity,

82 SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2011 www.chausa.org HEALTH PROGRESS

one anointing is given on the forehead, or any part ate ecumenical consultation. Although particular
of the body, while praying the entire formula. law can promote the values of universal law, when
norms are issued for a diocese or the territory of
WHO MAY BE ANOINTED? a conference of bishops, it would be important, in
Baptized members of the Christian faithful who accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, to
have reached the age of reason and who begin to allow some personal discretion on the part of the
be in danger due to sickness or old age may re- minister in individual cases.
ceive the sacrament of anointing. Participation in
the rites is encouraged broadly. For example: THE MINISTER OF ANOINTING
The Council of Trent decreed that any priest is
  The elderly who are weakened, even though the minister of the sacrament. This remains the
no notable illness is present, may choose to par- practice and is likewise regulated in Canon 1003.1,
ticipate in the ritual.5 Pastoral Care of the Sick 16 and Canon 739 of the
  Those who face surgery due to serious ill- Code of Canons for the Eastern Churches. Para-
ness graph 1516 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church
  Those who suffer serious
mental illness
Pastors and those charged with pastoral
On certain rare occasions,
Canon 844 allows Catholics to
care of souls have the duty and right
receive the sacraments of Pen- to administer the sacrament to those
ance, Eucharist and Anointing
of the Sick from priests who entrusted to their care.
belong to churches where the
sacraments are valid, under these conditions: says that “Only priests (bishops and presbyters)
are ministers of the Anointing of the Sick.” This is
  In cases of necessity or true spiritual advan- rooted in the Scriptural reference to presbyters as
tage the minister of the sacrament. In Catholic theol-
  There is no danger of error or indifferentism ogy, the ministerial priest acts as a spokesperson
  If there is a physical or moral impossibility for the whole church and has authority granted by
of receiving the sacraments from a Catholic priest Christ for the pastoral care of souls.
Pastors and those charged with pastoral care
Orthodox Christians may receive the sacra- of souls6 have the duty and right to administer the
ments from Catholic priests when they sponta- sacrament to those entrusted to their care. Any
neously ask for them and are rightly disposed, priest with the presumed permission of the pas-
according to Canon 844.3. Other baptized non- tor, or if there is reasonable cause, may administer
Catholics may receive these sacraments under the sacrament. Every priest is authorized to carry
six conditions: the blessed oil for administering the sacrament in
cases of necessity.
1. They cannot approach their own ministers A dilemma in the context of “parishes of
2. They spontaneously request the sacrament choice” leaves open the question of the appropri-
3. They are rightly disposed ate rights for the minister of the sacrament. This
4. They manifest Catholic faith regarding these is an area for future legislation because parochial
sacraments circumscription is easily ignored by clergy and la-
5. They are in danger of death ity alike.
6. If there is another grave necessity in the A theoretical discussion continues on whether
judgment of either the diocesan bishop or the the sacrament of anointing can be viewed as an
episcopal conference extension of the healing of baptism, which can be
administered by deacons or anyone in case of ne-
Norms for the above can be given by a bishop cessity. The question of deacons has been posed
or episcopal conference, but only after appropri- to the Holy See, but the current discipline has

HEALTH PROGRESS www.chausa.org SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2011 83

 not been changed.7 Because reconciliation and
anointing grant forgiveness of sins, sacramental
reconciliation with the church can be celebrated
only by those who lawfully preside over recon-
ciliation, that is, a bishop or a priest. Yet there is
a yearning for further developing the theology of
these sacraments. Theologian Susan Wood, SCL,
makes a keen point about this, as follows:
... in assessing who is the appropriate
minister of the sacrament of the sick, we
need to keep in mind the ecclesial meaning
of the sacrament of the sick and avoid at all
costs an overly individualistic approach to
it. The Church, acting in the name of Christ,
is the primary minister of the sacrament.
When the Church anoints a sick person, it
anoints a member of its own body. Anoint-
ing is about the restoration to baptismal
integrity of the whole body which will be
definitively achieved when all is restored to
Christ.8
There is no prohibition to other members of
Christ’s body offering prayers on behalf of the sick,
and even laying hands on them or using oil. Where
two or three gather in the name of the Lord, Christ
is present in their midst (Matthew 18:20). While
prayer may not be a sacrament, it is “sacramen-
tal” in the sense that the rosary or a scapular is
“sacramental.”9 All prayers on behalf of the sick
are beneficial. While the sacrament is typically re-
served for serious illness, praying for each other
or ritualizing the passing of a loved one in a simple
form of anointing by family and friends is known
to be healing and truly sacramental.10
The sacrament may be withheld from one who
persists in manifest serious sin, according to Can-
on 1007, but Canon 976 gives wide discretion to
any priest in remitting penalties or censures or
sins.
OTHER POSSIBILITIES
The ritual offers a wide range of possibilities and
adaptations. These include:

THE MANNER AND TIME   Pastoral Care of the Sick 168-174, which
The canons simply state that the sacrament may speaks to the care of a dying child and adapting
be celebrated at an opportune time with members the ritual to the understanding of the child
of the family and others from the faith community,   Viaticum is the last sacrament of Christian
effectively expressing the share that each one has life. It is food for the passage to eternal life and
in the suffering of others. The ritual should cor- should be offered under both forms of bread and
respond to the particular situation of the person wine when possible. The ritual includes a renewal
who is sick. Preferably, the celebration would take of baptismal profession of faith and a sign of peace
place while the person is capable of active partici-   Anointing in a hospital or institution
pation and at least implicitly gives consent.   If the minister arrives after time of death,
Communal celebrations may be celebrated in prayers for the dead conclude with a blessing or a
one place and following the prescriptions of the signing of the cross on the forehead
liturgical books and directives as may be provided   A continuous rite of penance, anointing and
by the diocesan bishop. viaticum (Pastoral Care of the Sick 236-258)
The situation or occasion determines the num-   A rite for emergencies includes sacramental
ber of anointings — for example, during subse- confession, then viaticum, then anointing
quent illnesses or if there is a more
serious crisis in the same illness.
If a person has lost consciousness There is no prohibition to other
or the use of reason, or is in a case members of Christ’s body offering
of doubt, (whether the person has
reached the age of reason, is seri- prayers on behalf of the sick, and even
ously ill or is dead) it may be ad-
ministered conditionally, presum-
laying hands on them or using oil.
ing the individual would desire the
sacrament. If a person has expired, then prayers   There is a rite of Christian initiation at the
of the dead and prayers for the commendation of time of death. In such an instance, the person must
the dying person are said. These prayers are not be able to hear and answer the questions. The in-
restricted to the ordained but by anyone who min- dividual is baptized, confirmed, and receives Eu-
isters pastorally to a dying person. charist as viaticum

84 SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2011 www.chausa.org HEALTH PROGRESS

   The oil must be blessed by any bishop or
those equivalent in law to a bishop (abbot, ordi-
nary of clerical institute) or any priest in case of
necessity during the celebration of the sacrament
(Canon 999)
  Particular prayers are provided for the fam-
ily and friends (Pastoral Care of the Sick 222)
AN ECUMENICAL VIEW OF SACRAMENTAL HEALING
The Catholic historian Br. Jeffrey Gros, FSC, af-
firms that the ecclesial and sacramental theol-
ogy of the Catholic Church is a gift to the wider
Christian ecumenical world. While we do have a
canonical sacrament of healing, our sacramental,
incarnational worldview can facilitate participa-
tion of a wider community in the healing ministry
of the church. What we have learned about sacra-
mental healing, now a clerical prerogative, can be
a resource for the variety of ministries that will
The ecclesial and sacramental
theology of the Catholic
Church is a gift to the wider
Christian ecumenical world.
emerge with inculturation, lay participation and
communal engagement in healing. We do not yet
know how our own sacramental understanding
and practice will develop in the future. However,
the experience, theological reflection and dia-
logue in the health community provides an impor-
tant resource in the development of sacramental
theology.11
There is a differentiation of roles in the vari-
ous dimensions of health care ministry — medi-
cal, sacramental and personal. The ecumenical
and Catholic setting provided by the health care
community creates a basis for learning and explo-
ration in the service of wholeness in healing from
which the whole society, and the faith community
in particular, can learn. These learnings will serve
the church in both ritual development and insti-
tutional design so as to best integrate all elements
which contribute to the healing of the human per-
son, and the community’s ability to sacramental-
ize that ministry to the wider society.
SR. MARLENE WEISENBECK, FSPA, Ph.D., J.C.L.,
LaCrosse, Wis., chairs the Catholic Health Asso-
ciation Sponsorship/Canon Law Committee.
HEALTH PROGRESS www.chausa.org
NOTES
1. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruc-
tion on Prayers for Healing, Sept. 14, 2000, paragraph 3.
Instructions by the Roman Curia are usually explana-
tions that clarify the prescriptions of laws and elaborate
on approaches for implementation. They clarify and
interpret law and encourage its observance.
2. National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Pastoral
Care of the Sick: Rites of Anointing and Viaticum (Colleg-
eville, Minn.: The Liturgical Press, 1983), paragraph 3.
3. For further elaboration on the development of the his-
tory of this sacrament, see The History of the Anointing
of the Sick. http://www.resurrection-catholic.org/learn/
sacraments/anointing/anointing_history.pdf.
4. United States Catholic Conference, Catechism of the
Catholic Church 1499-1535, 2nd ed. (Washington, D.C.:
United States Catholic Conference, 2000) 375-83.
5. Canon 738 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern
Churches states that the Christian faithful freely receive
Anointing of the Sick whenever they are gravely ill.
6. Priests are given the office of pastor through the
appointment of the bishop, thereby bestowing the right
and duty of pastoral care of souls in a given territory
(parish) or pastoral service in institutions such as hospi-
tals, universities, nursing homes, etc.
7. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Note on
the Minister of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the
Sick, Feb. 11, 2005. http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/
congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_
doc_20050211_unzione-infermi_en.html.
8. Susan K. Wood, “Anointing of the Sick: Theological
Issues,” Proceedings of the Sixty-Third Annual Conven-
tion, Canon Law Society of America, vol. 63 (2001), 250.
9. Canon 1166 states: “Sacramentals are sacred signs
which in a sense imitate the sacraments. They sig-
nify certain effects, especially spiritual ones, and they
achieve these effects through the intercession of the
Church.”
10. Article 7, paragraph 1 of the 2005 Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith Instruction on Prayers for
Healing presents norms that consider such sacramen-
tal prayers and actions as non-liturgical and therefore
prescribes that they must not be introduced into the cel-
ebration of the Holy Mass, the sacraments or the Liturgy
of the Hours.
11. Br. Jeffrey Gros, FSC, from a presentation to the Cath-
olic Health Association Sponsorship Institute, Tampa,
Fla. (January 14, 2011). Manuscript entitled A Healing
Church in an Era of Dialogue.
SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2011 85
JOURNAL OF THE CATHOLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES www.chausa.org

Health PROGRESS ®

Reprinted from Health Progress, September-October 2011

Copyright © 2011 by The Catholic Health Association of the United States